19. Wild Card - The Moment Where They Give Jason Statham Too Much To Do
Jason Statham is good at many things - more than most mid-budget action heroes. Not only is he nails hard and still delivering cracking fight scenes at forty-eight years old, the man's grown into a gruffly charming screen presence, and the Crank movies - not to mention this year's Spy, with Melissa McCarthy and Jude Law - have proven that in the right circumstances he can be genuinely, brilliantly funny, with a great line in self-deprecation. Simon West's Wild Card, however, proves once and for all that he's not a dramatic lead. Ex-special forces legend Nick Wild (really, though? Nick Wild?) is supposed to be the hardest man in Las Vegas, a description that was clearly made for Statham. Hes also described as a bit of a renaissance man, an intellectual and an academic, which is a description that was clearly not. Director Simon West is trying here to repurpose a William Goldman script from three decades ago, with the noble intention of trying to make a good movie out of it. 1985s Heat, with Burt Reynolds, was not that movie, and sadly 2015s Wild Card isnt either. A more versatile actor might have made it work, but while the part does play to Stathams strengths, it also accentuates far too many of his weaknesses. Lets try again in 2045.
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
